About upcoming changes to Sorcs

philippe.gaudreaultb16_ESO · July 2015

Hey guys,

As everyone else, I heard about what might happens to sorcerers and i felt like i needed to share what i think of it. I could talk for hours but ill try to be brief.

1) Shields 50% nerf :

The massive nerf of all shields in pvp regarding sorcerer is devastating. Most magika built sorcs run with at least 5x light armor as they are constantly casting
and need it for regen. consequently, they are vulnerable to melee attacks and have very little stamina to block or roll dodge.

The shield is the only thing that keeps a sorc alive as long as the stamina sustain. Now, we hearing alot of people complain about sorc being op, because they
are tanky, get great burst dps, and a good escape.

But, It is actually nirnhoned that makes a sorc tanky, by getting a 50% spell mitigation for 5 pieces of that trait, but that is about to get nerfed already

If you nerf the shield by 50%, a magika built sorcerer will need to go with at least 3x heavy to compensate.. which will create a lack in the sustainability.
Also, how is a 6k shield supposed to last 20 sec in pvp ? with such a low shield, a sorc will need to spam it, but wont be able because of this lack of sustain.

Shields are fine the way they are at this very moment, and if you find that health bars are dropping to fast (according to eso live here) just take em back the way
they were in 1.5, while the health/magika ratio was 1.5 instead of 1.1.

Nerfing shields will kill the magika built sorc, forcing players to play it tanky just like magika dks, but without battle roar to sustain.

2) Bolt Escape :

If you really want to nerf something, nerf Ball of Lightening. At the moment, for 1 cast it absorbs all projectiles for 6.5 sec, which is truely ridiculous.
The cost penalty cooldown is 4 sec atm, so i would say make it 2.5 sec. that way if you want to spam it at least u get penalised for it.

Streak is fine the way it is. nothing to say about it.

ABOUT THE LAG

Nerf the AoE's by 50% in PvP --> make AoE useless --> no more zergs --> much less lag --> more pleasure

ABOUT SNIPE

What is this "skill" ?! either nerf that thing by at least 35% or put a decent cooldown on the stealth snipe.

Thats about it ! Let me know what you think

NotSo · July 2015

R u srs

Welcome to eso btw.

Sorcerer shields have never been able to take more than a few hits (let alone last 20 seconds) before needing to be recast, that will remain true after the 50% bubble nerf is in effect, because (you forgot to mention) that all damage will also be nerfed 50%. Thus requiring no change to armor sets, thus keeping sustain.

Bolt escape. . . I really don't know what the problem is with this skill besides cost reduction builds bolting forever. Just exclude the spell from cost reduction effects. Make a more creative nerf. Come on.

If aoe's were nerfed, zergs become stronger. Because the only thing slowing them down is being able to force them all to heal. Nobody is going to win against a zerg if you're forced to use single target dps.

Stealth snipe. . . I would say every skill out there needs to be handled differently around stealth attack bonuses but that's another post I made already that got 0 attention. Come the 50% nerf, stealth snipe isn't going to half your hp.

Dracane · July 2015

Sorcerer shields are too weak even now, against physical damage. but also all damage is reduced by 50%, so we will most likely not feel a difference.

But I couldn't agree more to Ball of Lightning. It's sooo freaking overpowered. it just absorbs all magical projectiles and that for like 7 seconds. It's insane. I really hope, enough people brought this up, so Ball of Lightning gets a nerf with the next update.

Garion · July 2015

Dracane wrote: »

Sorcerer shields are too weak even now, against physical damage. but also all damage is reduced by 50%, so we will most likely not feel a difference.

But I couldn't agree more to Ball of Lightning. It's sooo freaking overpowered. it just absorbs all magical projectiles and that for like 7 seconds. It's insane. I really hope, enough people brought this up, so Ball of Lightning gets a nerf with the next update.

They should only nerf the projectile absorption of BOL if and only if they don't go ahead with the ridiculous cost increase changes.

Tankqull · July 2015

Dracane wrote: »

Sorcerer shields are too weak even now, against physical damage. but also all damage is reduced by 50%, so we will most likely not feel a difference.

But I couldn't agree more to Ball of Lightning. It's sooo freaking overpowered. it just absorbs all magical projectiles and that for like 7 seconds. It's insane. I really hope, enough people brought this up, so Ball of Lightning gets a nerf with the next update.

well as nearly no sorc bolts only once and only the first ball eating your attacks its quite easy to handle balls, but none the less it is to strong against other range magica users i do agree, it could be changed to a partial dmg reduction instead of a 100% reduction...

R0M2K · July 2015

Lol Sorcs are getting buffed not nerfed...

1) 50% Shields nerf + 50% all dmg nerf = 0 change

2) 0 change + Nirnhoned nerf = magica (sorcs) dmg buff

3) roll dodge nerf

4) block nerf

Average Sorcs where already very competitive, but now it will be Howarts time again, unless new gear solves things..

Its the medium armor usera who gonna suffer the most with this update.

And you still complain? Ltp.

Kronosphere · July 2015

wait.... nirnhoned is getting fixed. nerfing everyones protection against sprells so mainly sorcs and a bit of templars and you are still listing that as a negative for your class? what? where is the logic there? you will now do way more damage to people as they cant stack nirnhoned stuff..

and honestly armor means not alot with how easy it is to get armor pentration in pvp. even my 2h has 14k armor pen and im not even going for it. done some tests and yeah armor did crap all compared to what i thought.

Garion · July 2015

Kronosphere wrote: »

wait.... nirnhoned is getting fixed. the things that literally only protects against spells, and sorcs use spells.. and you somehow turn that into a NEGATIVE for sorcs? what? how can i take anything else u wrote after this seriously lol?

two words:

Harness. Magicka.

Gyudan · July 2015

Dracane wrote: »

Sorcerer shields are too weak even now, against physical damage. but also all damage is reduced by 50%, so we will most likely not feel a difference.

But I couldn't agree more to Ball of Lightning. It's sooo freaking overpowered. it just absorbs all magical projectiles and that for like 7 seconds. It's insane. I really hope, enough people brought this up, so Ball of Lightning gets a nerf with the next update.

It's insanely powerful!
Just imagine if it could reflect said projectiles as well. Then it would become as good as reflecting scales. No way!

Kronosphere · July 2015

sorry i missed the part about shields getting 50% resistance can someone fill me in? if its as simple as 50% more resistant and 50% weaker then its not even a nerf. however does pentration factor in? if so yeah its a slight nerf. nad bolt escape is god awful with people who can bolt 10-15 times then turn around and burst you as well AND have insane defenses from shields scaling from magicka. you can have mobility damage AND durability all in one package and think everything is ok.

Tankqull · July 2015

Kronosphere wrote: »

sorry i missed the part about shields getting 50% resistance can someone fill me in? if its as simple as 50% more resistant and 50% weaker then its not even a nerf. however does pentration factor in? if so yeah its a slight nerf. nad bolt escape is god awful with people who can bolt 10-15 times then turn around and burst you as well AND have insane defenses from shields scaling from magicka. you can have mobility damage AND durability all in one package and think everything is ok.

they don´t.

R0M2K wrote: »

Lol Sorcs are getting buffed not nerfed...

1) 50% Shields nerf + 50% all dmg nerf = 0 change

as shields currently have only a 15% reduction while dmg is reduced by 20%. the 50% reductions nerfs shields effectivly by 5% compared to the current situation of dmg vs shields.

ch.ris317b14_ESO · July 2015

Storm calling should have been the mages guild tree.... poweroverload should function like werewolf, and all of the stormcalling abilities only available while in overload form... frickin ZUES/ODIN mode peoples!

if that doesnt happen... how about making the 3rd or fourth Bolt escape on, cost ultimate... or health. Be like ok your riding the lightning, and can only do it so much before you get all pasty white and crinkley like Palpatine....

NotSo · July 2015

Well if I gotta replace bolt escape, can I get a buff to pet AI?

Emma_Overload · July 2015

"If you really want to nerf something, nerf Ball of Lightening. At the moment, for 1 cast it absorbs all projectiles for 6.5 sec, which is truely ridiculous."

NO.

Firstly, BoL rarely absorbs ALL spell projectiles, you're lucky if you get more than half of them. This is particularly apparent in Upper Craglorn, where pairs of Scaled Court Illusionists cast 8000 DP spells at you CONSTANTLY.

Secondly, this skill has ALREADY been nerfed several times so that it's just barely useful in PvE. Please don't make it worse!

Jar_Ek · July 2015

Shields are being reduced in line with damage to increase ttk, so this should have little to no effect in real terms.

Bolt escape proposed changes really hit hybrid and stamina builds ability to string more than a single bolt escape together without really making much difference to magicka builds until the 3rd or 4th bolt escape. If zos really want to curb bolt escape use/abuse they should make every cast past the first cost stamina and magicka, and if either resource cannot be met then health is used to make up the difference.

Dracane · July 2015

Tankqull wrote: »

Dracane wrote: »

Sorcerer shields are too weak even now, against physical damage. but also all damage is reduced by 50%, so we will most likely not feel a difference.

But I couldn't agree more to Ball of Lightning. It's sooo freaking overpowered. it just absorbs all magical projectiles and that for like 7 seconds. It's insane. I really hope, enough people brought this up, so Ball of Lightning gets a nerf with the next update.

well as nearly no sorc bolts only once and only the first ball eating your attacks its quite easy to handle balls, but none the less it is to strong against other range magica users i do agree, it could be changed to a partial dmg reduction instead of a 100% reduction...

This is not right. We tested a lot with BoL and all balls can absorb. It's just random, as it bugs sometimes. But all balls can absorb, I can show you ingame if you want.

Jahosefat · July 2015

Dracane wrote: »

But I couldn't agree more to Ball of Lightning. It's sooo freaking overpowered. it just absorbs all magical projectiles and that for like 7 seconds. It's insane.

Totally agree. Why should one cast of BOL be able to absorb an infinite number of projectiles in an area for the duration? One sorc dropping balls can make a group invincible to mag projectiles.

It should definitely only absorb a certain number of projectiles or have hp etc.

DisgracefulMind · July 2015

philippe.gaudreaultb16_ESO wrote: »

Hey guys,

As everyone else, I heard about what might happens to sorcerers and i felt like i needed to share what i think of it. I could talk for hours but ill try to be brief.

1) Shields 50% nerf :

The massive nerf of all shields in pvp regarding sorcerer is devastating. Most magika built sorcs run with at least 5x light armor as they are constantly casting
and need it for regen. consequently, they are vulnerable to melee attacks and have very little stamina to block or roll dodge.

The shield is the only thing that keeps a sorc alive as long as the stamina sustain. Now, we hearing alot of people complain about sorc being op, because they
are tanky, get great burst dps, and a good escape.

But, It is actually nirnhoned that makes a sorc tanky, by getting a 50% spell mitigation for 5 pieces of that trait, but that is about to get nerfed already

If you nerf the shield by 50%, a magika built sorcerer will need to go with at least 3x heavy to compensate.. which will create a lack in the sustainability.
Also, how is a 6k shield supposed to last 20 sec in pvp ? with such a low shield, a sorc will need to spam it, but wont be able because of this lack of sustain.

Shields are fine the way they are at this very moment, and if you find that health bars are dropping to fast (according to eso live here) just take em back the way
they were in 1.5, while the health/magika ratio was 1.5 instead of 1.1.

Nerfing shields will kill the magika built sorc, forcing players to play it tanky just like magika dks, but without battle roar to sustain.

2) Bolt Escape :

If you really want to nerf something, nerf Ball of Lightening. At the moment, for 1 cast it absorbs all projectiles for 6.5 sec, which is truely ridiculous.
The cost penalty cooldown is 4 sec atm, so i would say make it 2.5 sec. that way if you want to spam it at least u get penalised for it.

Streak is fine the way it is. nothing to say about it.

ABOUT THE LAG

Nerf the AoE's by 50% in PvP --> make AoE useless --> no more zergs --> much less lag --> more pleasure

ABOUT SNIPE

What is this "skill" ?! either nerf that thing by at least 35% or put a decent cooldown on the stealth snipe.

Thats about it ! Let me know what you think

To address your points:

1) I don't think the nerf to shields in Cyrodiil will be quite as bad as everyone is going on about because damage in Cyrodiil is also getting nerfed by 50%. Also, nirnhoned is not the only thing that makes a Sorcerer tanky. I run around with only a pair of nirn gloves and a nirn staff and am quite tanky due to my shield. It is the fact that a shield can be spammed consistently instead of blocking and losing stamina, and also that a sorc has high mobility that makes a sorcerer "tanky."

There will be no need to be a heavy armor Sorc with these changes, in my opinion, and light armor will most likely be needed to maximize shields even more than they are now due to the changes. Remember, damage is also getting nerfed.

2) I will agree that the nerf to Bolt Escape is far too harsh. I think they should add a 10% increased cost per cast instead of a whole 50% multiplicative cost. It seems a bit insane to make it that much a penalty for a class that relies almost entirely on casting. Ball of Lightning should have gotten the nerf hammer a long, long time ago. It is obvious that it is overpowered. It should have a 4 projectile absorption limit, such as Reflective Scale, for example.

As too your other two points. Players have cried about both longer than they have about Sorcerers in 1.6. Sad that neither is addressed, yes?

Dracane · July 2015

Jahosefat wrote: »

Dracane wrote: »

But I couldn't agree more to Ball of Lightning. It's sooo freaking overpowered. it just absorbs all magical projectiles and that for like 7 seconds. It's insane.

Totally agree. Why should one cast of BOL be able to absorb an infinite number of projectiles in an area for the duration? One sorc dropping balls can make a group invincible to mag projectiles.

It should definitely only absorb a certain number of projectiles or have hp etc.

Exactly. NPC mages have some kind of frostwall, absorbing incoming projectiles. But you can destroy the wall by damaging it.

I think, it should not be possible to have multiple Balls up at the same time and 1 ball should have a very small amount of health, so that there is a fair chance to destroy it.

DisgracefulMind · July 2015

Dracane wrote: »

Jahosefat wrote: »

Dracane wrote: »

But I couldn't agree more to Ball of Lightning. It's sooo freaking overpowered. it just absorbs all magical projectiles and that for like 7 seconds. It's insane.

Totally agree. Why should one cast of BOL be able to absorb an infinite number of projectiles in an area for the duration? One sorc dropping balls can make a group invincible to mag projectiles.

It should definitely only absorb a certain number of projectiles or have hp etc.

Exactly. NPC mages have some kind of frostwall, absorbing incoming projectiles. But you can destroy the wall by damaging it.

I think, it should not be possible to have multiple Balls up at the same time and 1 ball should have a very small amount of health, so that there is a fair chance to destroy it.

Or perhaps BoL should only affect the caster.

Vizier · July 2015

R0M2K wrote: »

Lol Sorcs are getting buffed not nerfed...

1) 50% Shields nerf + 50% all dmg nerf = 0 change

2) 0 change + Nirnhoned nerf = magica (sorcs) dmg buff

3) roll dodge nerf

4) block nerf

Average Sorcs where already very competitive, but now it will be Howarts time again, unless new gear solves things..

Its the medium armor usera who gonna suffer the most with this update.

And you still complain? Ltp.

It's actually even worse then that. It's a buff for sorcs because with the 50% reduction in damage there will be virtually no chance for Sorcs to get burned down from stealth which was virtually the only way to take them down without another 5-10 people pumping continuous DPS on their shields. So with no reduction to players actual HP pool this is a buff for sorcs. It's going to ruin the from stealth dps classes utterly.

Dracane · July 2015

Damage shields are 5% worse than now. Because damage is only nerfed by 30%, but damage shields by 35%. So they will indeed be worse than currently.

FriedEggSandwich · July 2015

I agree; streak is currently one of the most balances skills in the game, the nerf is truly ridiculous. As for the rest though; nobody can say for sure just how much shields are getting nerfed by so we will just have to wait and see. Nirnhoned doesn't make sorcs tanky cos most sorcs only really have max 2 pieces of crafted gear due to the best choices for them coming from dropped gear. I would rather have infused on the one piece of armour I could fit nirn on. Snipe is fine, and the lag will always be around.